FAIJMEKS' INSTITUTES. 750 



the nostrils, causing the animal to blow violently when first getting out 

 of bed or after eating. The animal can not exercise freely owing to 

 the difficult respiration. The attacks which are mild and of intermittent 

 character at first, become more severe and the condition is persistent. 

 The discharge changes from a thin water secretion to one containing 

 blood, to thick mucus, and finally yelloM-ish or purulent. Nose bleeding 

 is frequent, owing to the violent efforts to clear the nose. There is a 

 cough, the eyes become red and the tears flow, the hair roughens and 

 the whole appearance is "dumpish." There is difficulty in seizing, grind- 

 ing and swallowing the food, owing to the soreness of the mouth and 

 throat The trouble runs a course of from one to five weeks and death 

 comes from starvation or asphyxia. Those that recover nearly always 

 remain stunted. A post mortem examination of such a case shows the 

 mucous membrane lining and nasal chambers to be greatly thickened, 

 practically blocking the air passages. The turbinates and the septum 

 become so crowded by the uneven pressure that they are deformed. The 

 effect is to produce a blunt, thickened, more or less twisted nose, depend- 

 ing upon the uneven changes in the different bones. ' 



In the rachitic form we have essentially the same changes take place 

 in the nose, and in addition there are changes in the bones in other parts 

 of the body. The legs become curved and misshapen, and often there is 

 breaking down on the feet. Not infrequently, too, there will be bulging 

 of the bones of the head, as in hydrocephalus. 



Cause. — The cause of the trouble is not definitely known. By some 

 all the cases are regarded as being primarily due to lack of development 

 of the bones. in the nose, thus predisposing to catarrhal trouble. Others 

 consider that the trouble may be catarrhal from the beginning, due to 

 catching cold, and that the changes in the bones are secondary. The 

 writer is of the opinion that some cases belong to one class and some to 

 the other. The disease is sometimes described as being contagious, but 

 we are not in possession of facts to justify such a statement. It is more 

 probable that the conditions which give rise to the trouble in one pig 

 may also affect others. It is frequently observed to affect all the pigs 

 belonging to one litter, but I have never witnessed the trouble pass from 

 the pigs of one litter to pigs of another. It has also been observed in 

 four successive litters from the same mother, thus showing a hereditary 

 tendency. There were also other evidences of rickets present. We find 

 this trouble in pigs kept under good hygenic conditions as well as in 

 those that are subject to exposure and poorly nourished, and it is more 

 common in those breeds with stubby, turned-up noses than of the straight 

 variety. 



Treatment.— The l)est troatmcnt is to destroy such pigs. It will end 

 their misery and save expense. The majority will die and those that 

 recover will not be worth feeding in nine cases out of ten. Those who 

 wish to try to save them should put the pigs upon a good pasture and 



